International Women’s Day: Honour past struggles, organise for the future

We are privileged to be part of a Manchester tradition that has seen radical campaigns led by women throughout the city’s history.

Manchester gave birth to the women’s suffrage movement and has seen female trade unionists play a hugely important role in our city’s trade union movement.

Today we see female trade union campaigners leading the way in the fast food workers’ wage struggle in the USA, the garment workers’ struggle in Cambodia and locally in the Rochdale care workers’ strike. Women are also on the front line against fracking at Barton Moss.

The savage austerity policies of the ConDem government have hit women hard and with the worst of public sector cuts still to come, International Women’s Day serves as a reminder that the fight for gender equality must continue to be a central principle of trade unionism.

We salute and stand in solidarity with all women struggling for justice and equality.